AEI Special poll report: Health care and the Affordable Care Act

This AEI Special Poll Report takes a look at long public opinion trends on health care and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), parts of which have been tested recently at all levels of the court system. This document makes it possible to examine nine major pollsters’ trends on the bill and the law. Here are some conclusions from this new study of the polls:

• For each pollster, opinions on the health care law have fluctuated in a narrow range, but they have usually been more negative than positive. Polling activity on the ACA has cooled considerably in recent months.

• Democrats have lost considerable ground on whether they or Republicans in Congress would better handle the issue, though Democrats’ ratings on health care still tend to be better than those of their GOP counterparts.

• Kaiser Family Foundation and the Gallup Organization’s most recent polls show that around two and ten think they and their families will be better off under the ACA.

• In May 2014, 34 percent wanted to repeal the legislation, while 59 percent wanted to keep and improve it (Kaiser).